Some details of one of Hong Kong’s largest national security law lawsuits were revealed on Thursday (August 18, 2022). Previously, the Hong Kong High Court ruled that the decision of a judge designated by the National Security Law to not allow media coverage of cases under the National Security Law was “ultraviolent.”
National Security Law-appointed Judge Rod Quan on Thursday reversed his own earlier injunction not to allow media coverage of cases involving 47 former pan-democratic elites who violated the National Security Law to go to trial. Immediately afterward, the Hong Kong media reported some details of the case.
Relevant reports said that 29 of the 47 defendants accused of conspiring to subvert state power have pleaded guilty, including prominent activist Joshua Wong, academic Benny Tai, and former legislator Claudia Mo. One of the leaders of the 2019 anti-extradition march, FDC convener Cen Zijie, and 18 others, including former Stand News reporter Gwyneth Ho, pleaded not guilty.
Authorities accused the defendants of organizing unofficial Legislative Council primaries after the National Security Law was promulgated on June 30, 2020, in an attempt to gain a majority in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council with the aim of forcing the resignation of the Chief Executive and subverting the regime.
The defendants were arrested in early 2021, and most of them have been held without bail, pending an official hearing date announced by the court.
At least 100 people in Hong Kong have been charged with violating the national security law since the law took effect, and most of them have been detained for long periods without bail.
Authorities banned media coverage of the cases on the grounds of secrecy, preventing the public from knowing whether such cases were being tried in accordance with fair and transparent judicial principles.
Zou Xingtong, the former vice chairman of the Hong Kong Stake who was accused of violating the national security law, applied to the court to relax the restrictions imposed on media coverage of the trial proceedings, but was rejected by the national security law magistrate, Luo Quan. Zou Xingtong therefore applied to the High Court for review.
High Court Judge Li Yunteng ruled earlier this month that magistrates have no right to refuse the defendant’s request to allow media coverage and to prevent the media from reporting on the trial proceedings.
After the promulgation of the National Security Law, the Hong Kong authorities took this to suppress Hong Kong’s democratic forces and deprive the people of Hong Kong of their personal freedoms, which caused a huge international backlash.
The UN Human Rights Committee issued a document in July this year, noting the unconstitutionality of the Hong Kong National Security Law, that “the Committee notes with concern that the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China passed the Hong Kong law without consultation with the public and civil society in Hong Kong, China”. National Security Law.” The committee asked the Hong Kong government to take action to repeal the National Security Law for Hong Kong.
The committee also expressed deep concern about the consequences of the hasty implementation of the national security law. “Since the law was enacted in 2020, more than 200 people, including 12 children, have reportedly been arrested for endangering national security; 44 convictions of 12 people under the National Security Law,” the document said. It was not committed under the four broad categories of crimes under the Act.”
The UN Human Rights Committee therefore called on the Hong Kong government to stop enforcing the law before repealing it.
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